To defeat Aleister, I needed every advantage I could get.

  Despite avoiding it openly, I held no illusions we weren’t already at war. The weasel had stolen the initiative—or maybe he’d just rolled better—and left me scrambling for a reaction. His words had been mocking, intended to make me sweat in combination with the assassination attempt, and it had worked.

  I was rattled.

  My conversation with Hana had made everything clear, though. Aleister couldn’t be allowed to rule, and I was the only real alternative they had. As much as I didn’t want to be King, I wanted to let my subordinates down even less.

  So I decided to track back to the events before Aleister had begun his campaign of treachery. Before I’d been forced to deal with that, I’d completed my first quest, and gained 3 levels. That had unlocked some Skills and, more importantly, a mysterious Class system.

  I sat on the edge of my bed and called forth the mental image of my status screen.

  Wait, I could have sworn I only had 1 Quest! Why had one showed up without going ding? I ignored the Choose Class option for now, checking the tab to see what I’d missed.

  What the hell was a [National] Quest?! And moreover, where was my notification when it started?

  [Information: User is notified of each Quest the moment it is unlocked.]

  I rolled my eyes. ‘The moment it is unlocked’ probably meant I’d been sleeping, or having a masked man try to carve chunks out of me.

  Thanks, Royal System. You piece of shit.

  Sighing, I backed out, buoyed slightly by the rewards for something I’d been planning on doing anyway. This would give me an extra boost when I did.

  Almost rubbing my hands together in glee, I made sure to glance around my room suspiciously. We’d doubled the number of guards, and Hana was in the hallway—come to think of it, did that woman ever sleep? Regardless, I should be safe, but I couldn’t be too careful anymore.

  She’d threatened to get in bed with me, at one point, and while she didn’t laugh at my red-faced, sputtering reaction, her eyes did.

  Nothing seemed out of place: just the crackling fire and smell of wood smoke. Content I was alone, I finally zoomed in on the Class choice menu.

  I pursed my lips, fire spreading through my veins. Every time I tried to focus on one, nothing happened; all I was allowed was a stupid flavour description, apparently, and nothing about how it would affect the System.

  Would I have access to new Skills? Would I unlock anything in Ruler View? Why was this System happy to answer some questions, but not others?

  I really could have used some System Information!

  [Information: Details of the Class system will become available whenever they are relevant.]

  You really like saying that, don’t you? They’re relevant now!

  [Incorrect.]

  With that, the mechanical voice left me in silence, and I had no idea how to respond. I was half-convinced some aliens or extra-dimensional travellers were watching me on a flat screen, laughing their asses off.

  Shaking my head, I decided to just forge ahead. Being indecisive here could prove costly, even fatal, so I needed to rely on the information I had.

  I immediately dismissed Tyrant and Conqueror. They were both military-based, it seemed, and it would be a long time until we could afford any kind of extended campaign. Plus, the words left a bad taste in my mouth. Where possible, I wanted to do things peacefully, and avoid having to sacrifice ordinary citizens to build my kingdom.

  Ignoring morality, it was less stressful, and less dead soldiers meant more people to spend money.

  Diplomat struck me as underwhelming. While it would be nice to be able to forge complex alliances, my current foreign policy was ‘leave a message after the beep’, so I doubted it would help me in the short-term.

  I imagined Trader could lead to some hefty profits, and our location certainly lent credence to the crossroads idea. Becoming a trade hub for the entire continent would solve a lot of issues.

  Unfortunately, that required complex networking, and Developer appeared to be the closest to the way I’d chosen to operate. As I’d discovered, it was my actions that triggered things in this System, so selecting the Class closest to my ruling philosophy would undoubtedly have the best rewards.

  Closing my eyes, I settled on Developer.

  There was no feeling of evolution or great swell of power, but I did at least get a ding!

  Hell yes! I had a Skill Tree, and that meant new Skills to feast my eyes on. After discovering I had no way to directly access it, I headed for the Skills menu instead, finding 3 entries.

  Oh, come on! I’d finally chosen my Class, gaining access to a whole family of Skills that were previously blocked to me, and the only one I could see was locked! Why show it to me, then? I thought I only got to know things when they were relevant!

  [Information: Unlocking the Skill Tree allows User to view the next available Skill for that pathway.]

  I huffed. This thing was so inconsistent, I… was better off just trying everything myself, wasn’t I? With a mental shove, I tried expanding the Achievement required for [Plan Project], but nothing happened.

  How did I even get an Achievement? I could guess from the name that I was supposed to perform some kind of investment, but how specific was it? How numerous? There were too many questions, so I decided to shelve the issue. I’d need more shelves soon.

  In reality, I had two Skills to choose from, each costing 50 SP. I had a total of 60, meaning I could only afford one. [Force of Will] was the first to catch my eye. It could save me from certain death, and ensure that any betrayal went unrewarded.

  I thought of the assassin and shuddered.

  However, it seemed like a selfish Skill. All that did was protect me, and my first duty—as cripplingly heavy as it was—was to take care of the people, and more specifically, my Council. Hell, I could even call them my friends.

  Ruler View already showed me plenty of things, and maybe I could see more if I messed around with Diplomacy as well. [Command Centre], then, would allow me to more easily protect them. I’d also be able to direct them on operations while overlooking the big picture, and I couldn’t see any negatives.

  With a sigh, I resolved my choice, and this time, a funny tingling sensation crept up my extremities.

  Ding!

  With a satisfied sigh, I lay back and propped my head up, opening Ruler View.

  It was time to try out my new Skill.

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